<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>these, our quiet moments. by thychesters</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28884765">these, our quiet moments.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thychesters/pseuds/thychesters'>thychesters</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Birds of Prey (Comic), Nightwing (Comics)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, and then a bedtime story, bathtime with the baby, he's jim god damn gordon, jim has to argue with bruce to have grandpa visitation, john has his parents wrapped around his finger and you know this kid knows it, none of these tags are relevant to the story but they are in my heart, you think it's bad with them?, you think you're so great because you could can give this kid a college fund?</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:21:30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,396</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28884765</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thychesters/pseuds/thychesters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A night in means something very simple: bath time and a story before bedtime. </p><p>It's the little things like that Dick's learning not to take for granted, and it's easy not to when John glues himself to his father's side and beams up at him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson &amp; John Grayson II, Dick Grayson &amp; John Grayson II &amp; Barbara Gordon, a family...</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>73</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>these, our quiet moments.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>"you know how when a kid gets out of the shower and you wrap them and they just stand there like "</p><p>i was going to work on the baby fic some more, but then the above was said in a gc and did not leave my head for a week. so thank you, b! what i imagined was something much shorter and more on the drabble side, not 2k. oh well! haha</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>John splashes about, perfectly content with kicking at the bath water and only putting up a little fuss when his father covers his eyes and moves to rinse out his hair. Big blue eyes stare back at him when he pulls his hand away, and for a second Dick almost feels guilty, right up until he clearly loses interest and decides to try to splash him.</p><p>“Your soap smells so much better than the one I use, you know that?” Dick muses, holding it just out of reach as John makes a grab for the washcloth. Clearly feeling a little left out, he instead snags one of his bath toys from the water, a collection of ocean animals he likes to add sound effects to as he bobs them across the tub.</p><p>He holds up the dolphin with a small whine.</p><p>“Dolphin,” Dick says as John scrunches up his nose and eyes when he says he has to wash his face. He shifts his weight onto his other knee where he kneels beside the tub; the mat doesn’t provide much relief against the tile.</p><p>“Fin,” John parrots with a nod like he’s seen his mother do, and then drops it back in the water to float around with the rest of the toys and suds.</p><p>“Crab,” Dick says as he manages to wrangle one of his arms into his grip, and John waves a bright red plastic crab at him with his free hand. “Other arm, please.”</p><p>“Rab,” he murmurs, expression perplexed as his dad goes to wash his other arm, toy still in his grip. Dick pries it from him gently, only to find he’s moved on when he goes to grab the starfish that’s come floating around from behind him. He only squirms a lot when Dick goes to wash his belly. “Anana!”</p><p>“You know not every yellow thing is a banana, right?” Dick says around a grin, smoothing the washcloth down his back. As John repeats <em>anana!</em> for the third time, he just shrugs and says, “You know what? Starfish is hard to pronounce. I’ll let you have it.”</p><p>While he may not understand the words, John can see his dad smile, and that must be satisfactory enough for him. He hums and watches him unplug the drain.</p><p>“All done?” Dick asks as he watches the water swirl, and then those big eyes are looking at him again as he goes to reach for his towel.</p><p>“All done!” John declares, and Dick’s hand shoots out, just in case, as he climbs to his feet. He throws his hands up in the air and continues to yell, “Clean! All done! All done!”</p><p>“Easy buddy, hold your horses.” Dick laughs as he stands, knees protesting. John’s still holding his arms up as the tub makes its last few gurgling sounds and Dick wraps a towel around him. “Your old man feels old sometimes, don’t yell at me.”</p><p>John either doesn’t listen or doesn’t care, and just giggles and squirms while his dad towels him off and ruffles his hair. Dick gathers him up in his arms as he moves to stand, and there’s a tiny head resting against the crook of his neck, small tuft of black hair poking out of the towel he’s bundled up in. He nestles into his side as he reaches for John’s pajamas, and Dick glances up at the mirror to meet John’s eyes in the reflection. </p><p>The same eyes look back at him, and Dick can say Barbara’s not wrong when she says it’s like looking at a younger version of him. The eyes and hair are his, he thinks, but John certainly has his mother’s nose and the small array of freckles dotted across the bridge of it. John smiles as Dick waves to him, and then he’s twisting his head into his jaw, towel scraping against the stubble.</p><p>“What do you think, bud; should dad grow out the beard a little more? Your uncle says it makes dad look like a wannabe mountain man.” For emphasis he shakes a little, his son giggling as he’s jostled and his hair brushes along the tips of his ears from where he’s been letting it grow. (John seemed to enjoy that quite a bit early on, enamored by the grimace he would get every time he pulled on dad’s hair.) “Yeah, you’re right, time to get dressed.”</p><p>As he’s left on the bath mat, towel slung over his shoulders, John hums and watches him gather his sleep clothes, rubbing at one of his eyes.</p><p>“Arms up,” he says after unwinding the towel and slipping some sleep pants on him to coincide with the overnight diaper, a tiny hand pressing against his shoulder to balance himself. John fusses a little as his head gets caught in the shirt collar for a moment, and he glances down to watch Dick adjust the hem. “There you go, now you’re all decked out for a night on the town.”</p><p>“All done!”</p><p>“You got it, bud.” Dick stands again, moving to collect the bath toys still left in the tub while John stares at the doorknob, just out of his reach, forlornly. Dick gathers up the dolphin and crab and glances back before opening the door. “Tell you what, you wanna pick out a story for bedtime while I clean up here?”</p><p>The only answer he gets is an audible squeal, followed by the patter of tiny feet against the hardwood, which Dick supposes is more than answer enough. With a laugh he gathers up the rest of the bath toys, and then collects the towel and John’s clothes before following him back to his room, pace a little faster than normal just in case, and then John whines.</p><p>“What’s wrong?” he asks, like he expects a response, as he ducks into the room. There’s a book clutched to John’s chest and he’s reaching through the bars of his crib, whines increasing in duress and pitch. Dick frowns, tossing the clothes in the hamper, and upon closer inspection finds Alfred the lion just out of John’s grasp. “Oops, can’t have story time alone, can we? You pick out a book?”</p><p>“Yea,” John nods as he reaches in and passes the stuffed animal to him, and Dick watches him frown for all of a split second before he’s taking off again, lion flailing behind him and Dick in tow as he makes for his parents’ bedroom.</p><p>Barbara glances up from the book she’s reading as John clambers over the foot of the bed (with her help) and passes Dick a smile. John wastes little time in curling up against her, and Dick raises an eyebrow at her as she sets her book aside and then gathers their son to her with his tiny giggles.</p><p>“Ma’am, you’ve stolen my baby and I’d like him back now.”</p><p>“I’m afraid you’re mistaken, sir,” Barbara says before planting kisses all across his head and then moving to provoke a squeal from him when she blows a raspberry on his cheek. “This is my baby now.” She tucks her nose into his crown. “And he smells nice.”</p><p>“Right? I’m using baby shampoo from now on.”</p><p>As Dick rounds the bed, John wiggles out of his mother’s grasp and moves to roll, taking his lion with him as he comes to rest in the middle of dad’s pillow. He hugs Alfred, perfectly content once again, and Dick just smiles and shakes his head.</p><p>“Hey buddy, you either move or you get squished,” he says, and John’s feet kick a little as he makes himself comfortable. Barbara slides the book away from him so none of the sharp edges poke him and flips it over to read the back.</p><p>“Squish!”</p><p>“Uh-oh,” Barbara murmurs from her side of the bed with a smile.</p><p>“Uh-oh!” John repeats, his smile all gums and tiny baby teeth as Dick leans against the edge of the mattress. John repeats it again as his dad looms over him, and it gives way to laughter as he mimics going to lay on him before winding an arm around him and scooping him up.</p><p>“You got that right,” Dick says as he moves them and lies down on his side of the bed, where John rolls away and offers Barbara a short, delighted cry. “You steal my pillow, you get squished.”</p><p>“Nope!”</p><p>“Oh, you won this round,” Dick says, to which he catches Barbara’s soft laugh from the other side of the bed. He’s just barely made himself comfortable against the headboard and on his pillow when he has a tiny child burrowing their way into his side. He sighs as John rests his head in the space between his shoulder and chest, making a disgruntled noise when Dick moves his arm. “Hang on, hang on.”</p><p>John twists his face into his chest, accidentally digging his knee into Dick’s rib cage as Barbara waits for them to settle before passing his book back. She smiles softly at the two of them, and John wraps his arms around his lion, drawing it up to his chin.</p><p>“So what did you pick for tonight?” Dick asks as he flips the book over, and then chuckles a bit as he glances down at the mop of dark hair. “Animal Alphabet again? Man, we’re gonna read this thing for two weeks straight and have it <em>memorized</em>. Gonna be so good at knowing our animals.”</p><p>John leans his head back to look at him with those eyes of his, and it tugs at his heart a little.</p><p>“Hey, I like the book too, buddy,” he says, lowering his arm a little to wind it around John and tuck him into his side some more. He’s just finished getting them both situated when he pauses. “Babs, you got—”</p><p>“Right here,” she says, and John puts up a little fuss as Dick moves his arm again, but it quickly dies down as he’s handed his sippy cup. Dick can’t see his face, but he’s pretty sure John smiles at Babs as she winks at him before going back to her own book he’s pretty sure she’s not going to read.</p><p>“See, that’s why we like your mom, she’s always prepared.” Dick clears his throat, John and his lion nestles against him as he props the book on his stomach and opens it to the first page. “Alright, you ready?”</p><p>John nods, and they make it through the first few letters without much fanfare—he delightedly reminds them that C is for <em>Rab</em>—and Dick would have hazarded a guess that he was dozing off had it not been for the gentle <em>anana</em> as a cartoon monkey graced the page. Barbara, who’s long since given up pretending to read, beams at them from where she’s rolled onto her side.</p><p>As they round off the last few letters, John’s breathing grows just a touch louder, and Dick’s voice softens as he watches the grip on his cup loosen. Barbara takes it from him gently, and then the book, and it’s after with some slow, careful movements that he manages to shift John so they’re both in a more comfortable (or at least for Dick) position and not wedged into his side.</p><p>One hand still clinging to his lion, John sleeps peacefully, and Dick freezes when he shifts, though he only moves to rest his cheek against his chest and curl into him. He can feel Barbara’s eyes on them and he wraps his arm around him again, free hand moving to rest against his back, but he can’t bring himself to tear his gaze away.</p><p>“I know he should be sleeping in his own bed, but…” Dick starts, trailing off as the words lodge in his throat and John snuffles softly against him. Barbara moves closer to them, reaching over to brush John’s hair as she presses a kiss to his head.</p><p>“I know,” she murmurs, and Dick tilts his head into their space, her own hair catching in the stubble along his cheek. Her fingers trail through his hair again, and then down his arm where John has his hand planted against his shirtfront.</p><p>They’re quiet for a minute, Dick afraid to look away from his son, though he does long enough to kiss Barbara’s temple.</p><p>“Thank you for this,” she says as he pulls away, soft enough he wasn’t sure he was supposed to hear it. </p><p>Her fingers trail over his knuckles, then over the back of his hand where it curls around John.</p><p>“I could say the same to you,” he says, and he catches a laugh as her fingers circle back over his hand and to John’s hair again. Her fingertips ghost over his eyelashes and nose.</p><p>“I did have some help.” Barbara glances up at him, and he catches a hint of mirth he can’t help but return and smirk at. He wriggles just a bit to scoot down the mattress to bring them closer.</p><p>As they lie there Dick thinks perhaps he should get them under the blankets if they’re going to sleep like this, and they may have been pushing it, letting John stay up late like this, but maybe he’ll sleep in in the morning then. He thinks maybe they should put a movie on low with the captions on to watch, since they have a little down time, and he wouldn’t mind a little white noise to drift off too, because he knows Barbara doesn’t either. He thinks this has been a great night, even if the highlight was his son handing him bath toys.</p><p>“You know,” he starts softly, voice barely above a whisper, “if you told me ten—even five—years ago I’d be in bed by eight thirty on a Thursday night, I would have told you to sign me up immediately. With a baby with you? Still sign me up.”</p><p>“Shh,” Barbara tells him from where her head rests against his shoulder. One of her hands curls through his, her fingers sliding along his palm. “Decent people are trying to sleep.”</p><p>Dick hums and thinks sleep is a rather pleasant thought, and John seems to think so, too. He whines and fusses a little as, eventually, his parents maneuver under the covers, but he quickly nestles back into the space left between and sleeps through the night.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>